Ainsley Denzil Dubriel Harriott was born on 28 February 1957 in Paddington, London, to Peppy Strudwick and Jamaican-born pianist and singer Chester Leroy Harriott (1933–2013). He has Jamaican heritage and two siblings, including sister Jacqueline. He attended Wandsworth Comprehensive School before training as a chef at Westminster Kingsway College.

After an apprenticeship at Verrey’s restaurant and work as head chef at Lord’s Cricket Ground’s Long Room, Harriott became resident chef on Good Morning with Anne and Nick, which launched his TV career. He went on to present Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook (1995–2000) and Ready Steady Cook, which he hosted from 2000 to 2010, becoming one of Britain’s most recognisable TV chefs.

Harriott hosted BBC Two‘s The Best Dishes Ever, a 2016 archive clip show revisiting classic recipes from BBC chefs, and has continued fronting cookery programming on ITV, including Ainsley’s Good Mood Food, Ainsley’s Fantastic Flavours, and Ainsley’s Taste of the Bahamas.

He was made an MBE in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and the culinary arts, and won the Christmas 2023 special of The Masked Singer as “Partridge (In A Pear Tree).”

Harriott separated from his wife, Clare Fellows, in 2012 after 23 years of marriage, though they remain on good terms; they have two children together.